Self

"Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle", wrote Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland.

Taking an (auto) biographical view of the world – Jiatu Gu, Rosie Holtom, Omar Isaac, Simon Long, Luis Liu, Philip R. Martin, Gabriela Mazowiecka, Stephen Rusk, Brenda Vega, Tong Xue and Xiang Zhao have put either their own lives, or the face of the other, within the frame. These artists challenge, expose and question how an image can be a comfort, a fracture or a misrepresentation. Photography is positioned both as a tool which offers another way of seeing the self and a means of creating authoritarian mis-representations.

These artists question the truth of photography and challenge the viewer to ask questions about things we may take as a given within our society. Views of memories, life, death, psychiatric encounters, inscrutability, relationships and revelations are opened up to a wider audience to become a shared account of life.

Methodologically diverse, these artists use self-portraiture, portraiture, computer generated imagery, memorabilia and archival material to explore the conflicted use of technologies and the transformation of the self through social media and surveillance technology. Image saturation, identity and the quest for perfection within our society is all questioned.

—Rosie Holtom, Gabriela Mazowiecka and Jacqui Taylor

London College of Communication MA Photography 2016. Site by Stephen Rusk